


The Origin Story of Sunset Curve

by annaswOrld



Series: The Ghost Quartet [1]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Anorexia, Anxiety Attacks, Bisexual Bobby | Trevor Wilson, Bisexual Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby is Not Trevor Wilson, Bobby | Trevor Wilson Defense Squad, Bobby | Trevor Wilson Dies, Bobby | Trevor Wilson Has Bad Parents, Bobby | Trevor Wilson-centric, Bulimia, Canonical Character Death, Depression, Eating Disorders, Everyone is Dead, Gay Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Good Person Bobby | Trevor Wilson, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Pansexual Luke Patterson (Julie and The Phantoms), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Harm, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-12 18:28:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29638818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annaswOrld/pseuds/annaswOrld
Summary: Bobby had been in love with Reggie since the first day he saw him. They had been together since 1995 but somehow Bobby still didn’t feel worthy of Reggie’s affection. After years of facing ridicule by his family, peers, and now fans, he wanted to give up. Feeling hopeless, he begins to try to change himself to what he believed would be better for their band. Their image. For Reggie. And then, they died.MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING, CHECK NOTES!
Relationships: Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Alex Mercer, Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters, Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Luke Patterson, Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie Peters, Carlos Molina & Aunt Victoria
Series: The Ghost Quartet [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2177823
Comments: 5
Kudos: 16





	The Origin Story of Sunset Curve

**Author's Note:**

> *MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING*  
> ~This entire story has constant references to eating disorders, anxiety, depression, self harm, suicidal thoughts, PTSD, abusive parents, and negligent guardians! Although nothing goes into extreme detail graphics wise, if any of this could or would be a trigger, please do not read!~  
> Hello readers!  
> I'd just like to start of by making a disclaimer. I can't write or spell very well *at all*, I know these things, I am working on it. Grammar and writing is one of my worst abilities but I genuinely enjoy it, so here I am! I've never posted anything on here before so please excuse the possibly inaccurate tags or labels that may seem more extreme than necessary. I believe mental health is extremely important and I don't want to under do-it and put out a larger risk than I need to. I'm still learning the ropes of this website, so I do ask for your patience. More notes to come at the end, Happy reading!

BOBBY’S POV

1995, HOLLYWOOD

“Eat up boys because, after tonight, everything changes,” Luke said happily before looking at each one of us, devouring a quarter of his street dog. Reggie and Alex just laughed, following suit- each taking a decent-sized bite of their dinner. I wasn’t particularly hungry, I never was anymore. My relationship with food was complex, to say the least. I didn’t however, want to miss out on what felt like such a pivotal moment for us as a band, and I decided I would just expel the calories after when the boys weren’t looking as I normally did. Giving a slight laugh at the boys for their obnoxious silliness, I took a bite of my acid-tasting hotdog, nearly gagging as the slimy texture touched the roof of my mouth. Closing my eyes, I forced myself to at least consume as much as the other guys had to not raise much suspicion. They’ve been passing concerned glances at me a lot more recently than they previously did before they had collectively decided to move into my garage that we now know as Sunset Curves studio. Nearly gagging on the sudden unprompted vile rising in my throat, I quickly looked up at the guys. Each one coughing heavily, leaning over, or falling onto the floor. I reached for Reggie as his eyes closed and he puked on the floor in front of him, barely missing his knees.  
“Reggie...”I cried, trying to comfort him as he moaned out, tears slipping from his eyes. He looked up at me, shaking his head before his head fell and vomit escaped from his lips once again. I glanced over at the other two to notice Luke seemingly unconscious on the floor and Alex holding his hand while looking on the verge of out himself.  
“No! Please no, Oh my God- Alex! Luke!,” I heard a thud come from my other side, “Reggie!” As I tried to move to wake everyone and make sure they were okay, I felt a harsh sharp pain in my abdomen causing me to land right back on my face. I lifted my head to try and get a better look at everyone but my vision was slowly being conquered by the alarming black spots. Reaching for the others, I let my heavy head fall to the concrete, completely losing consciousness.

1995-2020, THE VOID(?)

By the time I came to, it was too late. One moment we had been eating street dogs like any normal weekend, then BAM!, I was a ghost floating out of the ambulance and landing here in some pitch-black space. Realizing the guys were no longer with me, I began to anxiously panic. Everything was numb and somehow I started sweating from the sudden heatwave that washed over me. What felt like my heart raced as I ran my fingers through my hair, losing breath. I tried to call out to anyone to hear me but no sound came out except for a weak, barely audible whine. Shaking, I fell to the floor, hugging my knees close to my chest as the realization that I was completely, and utterly alone hit me like a truck. Searching for any sense of comfort, I dug my nails into my forearms trying to ground myself. I ran my fingers over the healing welts that littered my arm, gasping as another round of tears gushed down my face. The feeling of lightheadedness hit me again as it had on the couch near the venue. Is it possible to die twice? Another round of nausea hit and I puked up acid and whatever else may have been leftover from the previous round of unintentional purge. My eyes again slowly started closing as I let the darkness swallow me further than it already had.

1995-2020, THE VOID(?) BUT LATER

I came to what felt like sometime later when I heard muffled voices around me. I began to freak out again because when I was knocked out earlier, I had been alone. Trying not to alert whoever else was in the space with me, I tried to concentrate on what they were saying before opening my eyes again.  
“How long do you guys think he’s been here?”  
“Shouldn’t we at least try to wake him up? I want to make sure he’s okay.”  
“No, he needs his rest, Reggie, let him have it. We’ll be here when he wakes up.”  
Those voices, I knew those voices! Alex! Reggie! Luke! Thank God! They didn’t sound to be in immediate danger or hurt which made it much easier to breathe. I tried to open my eyes to pry myself off the floor, but my arms failed me as I crumbled down alerting the guys of my awakeness.  
“Bobby!”  
“Babe!”  
“Bobbers!”  
I let out a long groan, rolling onto my front, trying again to push myself up onto my hands and knees. The shakiness in my arms left me to fall back but this time, I didn’t hit the floor. Lifting my head, I saw him. Happiness filled my emotions, making me quickly forget the despair and loneliness from before. Hearing him was a blessing, seeing him was like I never died, but feeling him hold me? There was no measurement of love or expression to even compare to how I felt.  
“Reggie…” I cried, new tears pouring down with less intensity, “Reggie oh God are you okay?” I tried to lift my hands to his face but the weight was too much to handle then and there. Instead, I tried to bury myself deeper into his chest trying to absorb as much contact and love that I could, as I felt his arms wrap around my shaking frame tighter. I didn’t even notice the others approach us until they knelt in front of me in my path of vision.  
“I’m fine, baby, we’re all fine. Everything’s okay, you’re okay,” he continued to whisper sweet reassurances into my ear, gently rocking me back and forth. The warmth I felt was overwhelming and despite trying not to cry anymore, I just couldn't. I'd never either felt so vulnerable, all of my secrets, my life plans, all were supposed to die with me. They weren’t meant to be brought into my ghost life-if you can call crying in an empty space any type of life. My eyes returned to their droopy state as I once again lost to void feeling the safest I had in a long time, surrounded by the 3 people who love me.

2020, TRANSITION

When I came to, it was to our song “Now or Never” engulfing my seasons. Looking around I noticed there was no CD player or instruments, just the boys. When the noise became too much, the ground beneath us shook and we all began to yell in agony. The pain I had previously felt in my abdomen returned and the world seemed to change before us. The next thing I knew, we were falling. His arms never leave my waist and each hand grasped onto another. I squeezed onto Reggie as hard as I could, unwilling to allow him to leave me again as he had from the ambulance mishap. I couldn’t handle those feelings again. Being alone. Unloved. Abandoned. Unwanted. I could feel the anxiety rising inside of me. Oh God, not the time for a memory recollection, not when we were seemingly stuck in a free fall through the void. The longer we fell, the louder the music became. The migraine becomes impossibly more painful as time passes. And then, we hit the ground.

2020, HOLLYWOOD

The music stopped but the screaming increased, but this time, it wasn’t by us. Suddenly, it stopped. I felt paralyzed, no limb moveable. Beside me, Luke and Alex stood up slowly, looking around. With Reggie still attached at my side, rubbing my back in slow gentle circles. The next thing I knew, the high-pitched screaming continued and the door to my garage slammed open. Crying out at the new noises made Reggie adjust his hands to cover my ears for me which led to being pampered with light kisses all over my face. As the noise faded away, the barn doors slammed shut against each other, echoing loudly throughout the small space. He slowly removed his hands from my ears and into my hair, running his long fingers through my disheveled disaster of hair. I decided to attempt to stretch out my legs, expanding my surface area on the rug and my boyfriend. “Let’s get up Bobs,” He giggled, his laugh rumbling against my back. He put one arm under my back, and the other around my upper body. He pulled me up onto my feet but the moment he let go I stumbled, another wave of dizziness hit me. I leaned into his side a bit, “One sec” I mumbled more to myself than him. 

NO-ONES POV

Luke and Alex looked at each other, unsure of what to do. They had no idea what happened to them since the ambulance, or why they were separated in the first place, let alone how they ended up in the garage. Or who that girl was and how she found her way into their space. All of the questions they had but they couldn’t find the answers to. With one last glance at each other, they slowly began to advance towards the pair in the corner. They sent worried expressions to Reggie, silently asking if Bobby was alright, or if he knew what was happening, at least to him. Reggie gave them the look that read he didn’t know or even had the slightest idea. They continued their short eye conversation until Bobby let out a light cough and stood up a bit more on his own. With one last pass, they three looked around at each other in the confirmation for their next move. The trio had always had a way of communicating with each other through looks, even before they had met Bobby.

1990, HOLLYWOOD

Bobby had joined their little group at the start of 6th grade, being the new shy kid who never really talked to anybody and just plucked at his guitar throughout music class alone in a practice room. The kid who would flinch at any type of physical contact or passive-aggressive tones. Luke immediately wanted to befriend him because of his oddly proficient musical abilities at their age, begging him to join the small group that he and his two best friends had recently created. He had been so energetic to the point of scaring Bobby into locking the practice room, turning the lights off, and hiding for the rest of class under the small keyboard stored in the corner. Even after the bell rang, the boy cowered under the string of keys until there was a light knock at the door. He jolted his head towards the sudden noise, surprised to see the blonde kid that always hung around Luke. He slowly crawled out from beneath the keyboard and hesitantly unlocked the door, allowing Alex to come in and sit next to him on the floor. Alex hadn’t said anything to him for a few minutes, just letting the silence simmer over them. “Um...I’m sorry for uh how things went with Luke I guess. I wasn’t um prepared for that. I’m sorry,” he trailed off, doing his best to avoid Alex’s gaze. Crossing his legs, he dug his nails into his forearms until they bled, withering with anxiety about the confrontation. “Hey. Hey. Hey! Stop, don’t hurt yourself like that, please,” Alex whispered, feathering his hands over Bobbys, “It’s okay, no one’s mad. Luke feels bad but he didn’t want to overwhelm you even more. We just wanted to make sure you were okay and didn’t accidentally fall asleep back here.” Alex was almost as anxious and tense as Bobby was, but he tried his best to stay calm for the both of them. They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Alex stood, extending his arm down to Bobby. He reached his hand up to meet Alex’s and let himself be pulled up. They walked hand in hand slowly out of the small room and didn’t let go until they were face to face with Luke and Reggie in the hallway. Alex smiled at them while Bobby looked down at the floor, gripping his hand and the neck of his guitar tightly.  
“Guys...this is Bobby. Bobby, this is Luke and Reggie, my best friends.” He gestured up with his free hand, before replacing it on the strap of his signature fanny pack. Luke and Reggie smiled and waved at Bobby, “Hi! It’s nice to meet you, I’m Reggie!,” “And um I’m Luke, by the way. Um hey man, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I don’t mean to come off as all in-your-face, I’m just like this I guess. I’m sorry for scaring you,” He twiddled his fingers together looking up and down, avoiding eye contact with both Alex and Bobby. Luke and he both looked up at the same time and smiled shyly as Reggie gleefully smiled too before looking at Alex and Luke with a devious smile. Turning to Bobby with an idea in mind that showed on his face and gave a lighthearted chuckle.  
“Hey Bobby, Would you mind coming to join us at band rehearsal today? We can hang out a bit too, have a chill hang out, maybe order a pizza or two-watch some Star Wars.”

2020, HOLLYWOOD

“Hey love, why don’t we go wash up in the bathroom real quick? I think it might help to get the literal dust off of us,” Reggie suggested with a sly smile, gently guiding Bobby towards the bathroom and closing the door behind them. Alex nodded in the direction of the loft, signaling Luke to trail behind him up the creaky latter. Once he reached the top step, he began to take in the mess that had become of the place in their overnight absence. Pulling the beanbag out from the corner he plopped down on top of it and scooched to the other side so Luke would know where to sit. Luke plopped down next to him leaning towards his ear with a sigh, whispering, “What the hell is going on man? I get it, we died. But when? I could have sworn it was just last night but somehow, this place has changed so much. And why wasn’t Bobby with us in that weird dark room? He’s here now but something’s up man. I can feel it, and it ain’t cool.” Alex let out a full-body shrug, shrinking down into the beanbag, sighing. Their world had just drastically changed and nobody had any idea what was going on or who the strange girl invading their space was. They continued to sit down in silence, leaning on each other's shoulders, waiting on Reggie to return with their friend. Suddenly, the door cracked open, the creaking sound alarming them that someone or something had entered the garage. Alex held a finger over his lips to Luke, silencing him before he had the chance to speak, and slowly peered over the edge of the loft looking down to spy on the intruder.  
She had the door open, full swing now, peering in with some small t-shaped object in her hands held out in front of her. A...cross? Did she think they were demons or something? With one last look around, she dropped her arms in defeat, “Are you still here?... Whoever you are. I know I saw something, I’m not crazy.” Luke couldn’t resist himself so he poofed down behind her while Alex, once again sighing, following suit. Luke popped the collar of his trenchcoat, “I think we’re all a little crazy,” he said with a small laugh shrugging his shoulders. Alex scooted a tad bit behind Luke when the mystery intruder girl threw her hands back in front of her, cross extended to keep distance between them. When she began screaming again, the two boys flinched. In all the excitement and Alex begging her, “Oh God, Please stop screaming!”, they all missed when the bathroom door swung open, revealing a very displeased Reginald.  
His arms were crossed, scowl present on his face, “What do you guys not understand about *imitates previous facial expressions*!?” I thought I made it pretty clear that Bobby…” he trailed off at the sight of the new person in the room. Raising his right hand, he pointed at her slowly, unsure of how to handle the situation. He looked her up and down, wondering why she looked so familiar. He tried to speak up, to protest against her presence and volume, just wanting to take care of his boyfriend. Just as he figured out what he wanted to say to his audience, he was cut off by the cross being thrust again in the trio's direction.  
“Who are you! And what are you doing in my mom’s studio?” She demanded, a persistent look in her eye. Luke let out a giggle, “Your mom’s studio? This is our studio,” He tried to move around her to inspect the new piano that had been placed near the window. Avoiding her shoving the cross into him he scattered quickly onto the top of the new addition, “Kay? Trust me! The grand piano is new a-a-and ah,” He cut himself off skidding off of the piano and making a leap onto his back, landing on the couch with a giggle, “My couch!” The intruder continued to shift her glare between the three ghosts, keeping them all at arm’s length, relying on the wooden cross to protect her. Luke looked over his left shoulder, sitting up slowly- pointing behind him, “But that is definitely not my six-string.” He looked up at the ceiling, for the first time noticing the strung-out lights that littered it along with the hanging chairs and the new decorations that coated the walls. He crouched up, walking on the couch and over the mini table in front of it. “Can you give me just one second, j-just give me a second? Thank you,” he said flabbergasted pulling the other two boys into a mini band huddle.  
“Guys, what is going on? How did she get her stuff in here so fast?”  
“Maybe we can handle that problem after we figure out what happened to us and what’s wrong with Bobby. He needs us, needs me, right now. So if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be in the bathroom,” he turned to leave before again holding his arm up pausing, “And if you guys don’t mind, keep it down and get her out of here at least until everyone is feeling better and more prepared to take this situation on.” With that, Reggie dropped his arm, briskly making his way back to the thin door, disappearing inside of it. Luke’s mouth was practically on the floor, ‘What is going on?’ he wondered, ‘Why is everyone acting so weird all of the sudden?’. Alex looked over at him, popping his jaw shut, “Close your mouth dude, you’re gonna catch flies. Reggie’s just worried about him right now, don’t worry. He’ll figure it out and when he does, he’ll calm down and everything will go back to normal. You can go back to being happy-go-lucky, he can go back to being a skittish love-stricken puppy, Bobby can go back to being his quiet calm, not freaking out self, and I will continue to be the only normal one with his head screwed on correctly, in this friend group. And for her, that girl,” he points over his shoulder, “She’s just scared, Okay? Let someone, with a softer touch, handle this.” He pats Luke on the shoulder before making his way over to their intruder. He looks up from the ground, slightly leaning a bit forward before raising his voice and firmly asking, “Why are you in our studio?”.  
She gasps, looking him up and down quickly before shoving the cross and her arm into the place where his heart used to be. Much to her surprise, her hand slipped right through his chest, not feeling anything. She gasped out again, more shocked this time, pulling the cross out and yanking it to her right shoulder. She panicked, looking at Alex, the cross, and then Alex again, “Oh my gosh! How did you do that!?” she yelled loudly. Alex rolled his eyes, looking between her and Luke. “Clearly you’re not understanding it, clearly she doesn’t get it,” he shrugged, making more than necessary amounts of hand gestures trying to prove his point. “Okay, Look. We’re ghosts, alright? We’re just four ghosts and we’re really happy to be home, so thank you for the flowers. They really brighten up the room.” He smiled at her in a frail attempt at being less intimidating. Intimidating had never quite been his thing, it was Bobby’s. Bobby was intimidating, Luke was passionate, Reggie was a people-pleaser, and he was an anxious ball of disaster. The bite-sized girl looked confused and frightened, but his smile seemed to calm her nerves just a bit. She stared at the two of them.  
“F-four of you? B-But I only see you two, a-and the skinny one that appeared for a few minutes. That’s three, not four. Who’s four! What’s going on? Who are you guys!” She rambled on, beginning to ever so slightly shake. Both the boys looked taken back by the outburst, throwing worried glances at each other. Neither of them felt comfortable explaining what they knew about the present situation with Bobby and Reggie. At the mention of their names, the bathroom door creaked open, A shaking Bobby wrapped up in towels up to his neck appeared, looking at his feet while being held and guided out the door by a soft-spoken Reggie who was whispering kind words of praise and admiration into the smaller man's ear and rubbing gently on his back in small circles. The intruder quickly shut her mouth, softening her gaze, letting the cross in her hand drop down to her side. She looked back and Alex and Luke, worried expressions glossing over all of their faces. When she tried to step closer to the new pair, Alex stuck his hand out in front of her, blocking her path. He sent her a pleading look to not move or do anything to alert the other two of her presence just yet, silently begging God for her to understand what he meant. The three of them slowly backed away, putting even more space between them and the couch to give the new pair some space. Without looking away from his baby's face, Reggie called out, “Hey Lex? Could you or Luke do me a favor and go grab an extra pair of sweats, a tee, and one of my sweaters? Thanks.” Unwilling to wait for a response to his subtle demand, he grabbed another towel from his shoulder and began to lightly dry Bobby’s hair. The girl opened and closed her mouth once again before slowly backing away to the still open barn doors, hiding behind outer walls, peering in. Alex poofed down from the loft, clothes in hand, unintentionally startling her from a distance. He handed the clothes over to Reggie before nodding and Luke, making them both simultaneously poof out to the basketball net near the doors, startling the girl again as she jumped back at their presence.  
“Eavesdropping still?”  
“Um, no I-I um, yeah I’m sorry...Do you mind uh nevermind,” she trailed off.  
“Telling you what’s going on in there? Wish I knew, sister. But I do believe we have some more pressing matters to handle,” Luke jumped in, trying to save Alex from having to expose their friends. People’s perspectives weren’t exactly the kindest when it came to those who had different lifestyles or ideas that weren’t 100% conservative, especially in their town. Not only was it not her business as to who they were but also what they were, ghosts, dead, together…That was a gaping hole they weren’t willing to explore just yet. Unable to think of an appropriate thing to calm the fearful struct girl in front of him, Luke tried to help piece things together for her and explain what he knew, a plan unapproved by Alex, “We’re actually in a band called Sunset Curve...Last night was supposed to be a really big night for us, it was gonna change our lives.” Alex shifted uncomfortably in his shoes, “I’m uh, pretty sure it did,” he leaned towards Luke for a minute for dramatic effect before shifting back to his previous stance, feeling only slightly bad for his sarcastic comment based on the way Lukes brows furrowed. The stranger shook her head at them, her eyes bouncing around the yard, “This is freaking me out,” she said continuing to shake her head, believing that she could convince herself it was a dream or hallucination. Pulling the iPhone out of her back pocket, she let her guard down, and made her way to the Google search engine. Luke’s eyes widened in curiosity and he tried to reach out to touch the small rectangle. The girl let out a nervous gasp and shoved the cross back in front of her to keep Luke at arm’s distance, despite his attempt.  
“What is that? What are you doing?” Luke peered in her direction, hoping for a glance at whatever was on the screen to make it so bright. He dropped his arm at her scared look. “It’s my phone,” She shivered, centering her vision away from them, “Nope! Stop talking to them. They aren’t real. There’s no such thing as cute ghosts.” With that, she rolled her eyes and looked back down at her phone. It was at this moment that a figure appeared in the doorway.  
“Aw, think we’re cute?” Reggie leaned against the hinge with a smirk, crossing his arms. After taking in her surprised face, he stood up straighter and walked over next to Alex and Luke, “Don’t worry, Bobby's asleep on the couch. He’s not erm...feeling very well right now. But we can handle that when he wakes up later. Let’s make whatever awkward thing happening here a bit quieter, I don’t want to wake him. Not after it took so long to get him to rest.” The girl gave him an annoyed glare before looking down at her phone, starting to type in what she was looking for. Eventually, Alex gave in to his curiosity, peering down on her with a slight chuckle, “Who ya calling?”. Luke smiled up at him, silently wondering the same thing. What took him by the most surprise though was the shape of the phone and that whatever buttons she was pushing wasn’t 3D like the one at his house.  
“I’m googling Sunset Swerve.”  
“Sunset Curve.” The three veiled creatures said unanimously, extremely annoyed with the attitude and disrespect that she was trying to dish out on their band's name. The band meant everything to each one of the boys, so for a stranger who seemingly never even heard their music before to be so inconsiderate and judgemental directly to their faces stung a bit, chiseling at their pride. Once the small girl noticed her mistake she scrunched her brows and left her mouth agape, turning her attention back to the small mysterious new phone in her hand. She clicked on one of the links reading ‘Sunset Curve: A Hollywood Tragedy’ dated all the way back from July 29th, 1995. The image contained a picture of the four boys that had appeared in her mom’s studio once she played that disk she found in the loft earlier that day. A million thoughts began to race through her mind, filling with confusion. The boy in the trench coat said they had died last night, but this article was dated a few decades ago. “Woah,” she let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding, “There is a Sunset Curve. … You did die, but not last night.” She shook her head, wondering if it was safe to explain anymore to them. Here she was, in the late evening, in her dead mother’s studio, talking to three ghosts she had never seen before. What if they were angry? Upset? Vengeful… Worst-case scenarios flashed through her mind before she shook her head. ‘No,’ she thought to herself, ‘They deserve to know the truth,’. With a shaky sigh, she looked back up, making brief eye contact with Alex before shifting her gaze around. They all had expressions of pain and confusion running through them, their eyes looking for answers that she didn’t know how to give to them. “Twenty-five years ago…” Her voice trailing as she spoke, feeling even more confused herself. The math made sense with the article, but it seemed so impossible. The one coated in leather that had appeared later than the other two was taken back the most. “What?, Nah, no no no,” he rushed out as Alex scoffed at her response, “That-that’s impossible. After we floated out of that ambulance, all we did was go to that weird dark room where Alex cried,” he said tapping Alex’s shoulder. The one she now knew as Alex had a look of embarrassment pass over his eyes for a moment, “Well,” he dragged as his pitch raised a fair amount, “I think we were all pretty upset, okay.” Luke, who at some point raised his thumb to his lips, lowered it, completely ignoring her for a moment, “But that was only for like, an hour.” Shifting his attention back onto the girl who no longer seemed as terrified of them he continued, “We just showed up here.” The girl tilted her head back and forth, rotating it on her shoulders, “Look,” She turned her phone around so the screen's contents were now visible to them, “I’m just telling you what my phone says. See? You died in 1995 when you were seventeen. It’s now 2020.”  
“So this is the future?” Reggie’s eyes once again widened as she gave an exaggerated eye roll at him, tucking her phone back into her back pocket. Luke looked the most indifferent to all of the news just dropped on the three of them while Alex looked mortified. “Wait, so-so it has been twenty-five years? I have been crying for twenty-five years!? How is that possible!?,” He exclaimed, voice raising with every pronounced syllable. Reggie immediately moved his hand to his arm, in an attempt to calm him down, understanding his anxiety, but also out of fear of waking up the sleeping boy on the couch wrapped up in his sweater and warm blankets. “Well you’re a very emotional person,” he rushed out, trying to quickly soothe the taller male. “I am not!” Alex proclaimed, throwing his hands down in the process. In understanding his odd gestures and in slight fear of causing an overprotective boyfriend attack in front of the new girl, he shut up and just stared at the boy on his right.  
“Thought you were afraid to come out here?,” a new voice appeared behind them, “Talking to your ghost friend? How does he look? Is he hideous? “ A little boy, looking younger than their mystery girl, bounced down the pathway and to the front of the garage doors where they all stood, stepping right in between Alex and Luke, unable to see them. Alex gave a light laugh to himself, “He can see you,” he mumbled to Reggie in a joking tone. The girl was suddenly frozen in fear and surprise, “No, he can’t” she said, arms straight at her side, giving a quick glance to Alex then back to the small child in front of her. The kid looked around him trying to find the reason for his sister’s outburst, still unseeing any of the ghosts that surrounded his sides, “What?” Quickly she relaxed, her brain catching up to her, trying to find some excuse for her seemingly strange behavior. “Uh-uh wh-what do you want?” she demanded. The boy's demeanor suddenly changed from concerned to annoyed. Crossing his arms once more, he began to turn slightly more towards the house, “A normal sister, for starters. Stop being weird and come eat.” They all watched as he ascended the stone walkway. Turning their attention back to the slightly less strange stranger as she again began to speak to them, “He couldn’t see you.” Alex huffed at this, “Yeah, I mean it’s usually how ghosts work” trying to give her a hard time for stating again, the obvious. She let out an annoyed groan before stomping in the direction her little brother had wandered off to, passing right through Luke and Alex, just as he did. She stopped dead in her tracks, turning around with a puff of her chest, “Look, I’m very sorry for what happened to you guys but this'' she paused, pointing at the garage, “isn’t your studio anymore. You have to leave.” The venom she spat out hung heavily in the air around the boys. As she turned to go on her way, Luke called out to her, “But wait! We-we didn’t get your name.”  
“It’s Julie.”  
“Cool, uh I-I’m Luke,” He started, trying to go shake her hand, stopped by the cross again being shoved at his chest, “By-by the way a-and this is…”. He trailed off gesturing towards his bandmates.  
“Reggie! I’m Reggie, hey,” he rushed out.  
“And...” Luke tried.  
“Alex, how’s it going,”  
“Oh-oh and inside is Bobby!”  
“Ba-da,” Luke did baby jazz hands at their introduction to try to conceal his feelings but his face gave it away. He dropped his arms, letting the frown-pout rest upon his lips, giving Julie a pleading look. Much to his dismay, the firm line across her face did not waver. They became statues under her untimely glare. What felt like hours had passed before she finally dropped the cross, “Okay?” and then continued on her path to her house, disappearing into the darkness. Luke turned to Alex and Reggie, an even deeper, but more desperate frown laid on his face. Reggie smiled to himself in a failing attempt at bringing a sense of comfort and optimism to the two heartbroken ghosts next to him. None of the boys had been blessed with stable home lives in their living days, seeking refuge in the garage that Bobby's grandparents had long forgotten about that was adjacent to their house. It had always been a place for them to go to escape the violence or the hatred of the outside world. To be held, loved on, and accepted. Their passions blossomed there with each other in the practice space where they were always free to rock out, to release the pent-up emotions they kept bottled up inside. It had been their safe haven, and now it couldn’t be. Worst of all they weren’t even wanted inside.  
“Did you miss the part where she kicked us out or…” Alex sighed, the defeat dripping from his words, “Yeah? Okay.” They all began to head back inside the garage, the cool air biting at their souls, trying to devise a plan in silence. Reggie dropped the happy-go-lucky act, storming past the pair, making his way towards the small ball on the pullout. Crouching down beside the bundle, he moved one of the blankets off of the skinny face, reaching to cup the sweaty cheek, rubbing it softly. Alex and Luke shared another knowing look before quietly joining Reggie on the floor, silently observing their curled-up bandmate, spreading worry between the three. No one was positive how long they had been there, or how long they had until Julie came in and physically removed them herself. They were all extremely torn on the inside, unsure of how to feel or even handle the situation at hand. Each boy felt a different confusion yet the pain all stemmed from similar places. Alex worried about the logistics of what they would do and how they would get around and survive in their newfound ghost world outside of the void. Luke worried about whether or not they would ever be able to play music again and if they would all be able to be together, they were all each other had left. Every single one of these thoughts and more had crossed Reggie’s mind in quick, rapid flashes but truly, the only thing he felt worth worrying about was his sick angel on who was laid out before him. To be truthful, he had been worried for a lot longer than just after they died, they all had. They had begun to see small, subtle changes in their friend. They were unsure what the cause was, or where it all truly began. All they knew was something inside of him changed one day, and they did not like it.

1992, HOLLYWOOD

Robert Wilson had been in Los Angeles for two years now, having finally found a small group of musical weirdos to spend his time with. They were quite lovely though, Luke Pattersons need to constantly give and receive physical affection, Alex Mercer needed to always make sure everything was in order and that everyone was doing well, and then there was Reginald Peters. Sweet, beautiful, perfect Reginald Peters. The singular person Bobby would give anything for. He was falling, falling hard for the boy who would never love him back. Not only was the gorgeous boy straight, but Bobby was just simply and bluntly put, unloveable and forgettable. He was short. Awkward. Quiet. Pimply. Fat. He was gay. That in itself was enough to get him killed on the street with no prompting. He wasn’t sure why or for how long the boys were going to keep him around, but he felt like he was grasping at straws at this point. His parents abandoned him, claiming they didn’t want the abomination once they found out that there was a potential complication due to arise in his birth. The fear alone that he might be different than the regular church boy was enough for his parents to feign a miscarriage and try to get rid of him. His mother’s parents swore that if his parents just handed him over to them, that they would move far away- hiding the truth from the world to keep the honor in his family's name. If his own parents refused to even try to love him before he even had the chance to be born, why would anyone else? His grandparents tried to raise him with as much love as they could, taking pity on him for the events that had transpired 13 years ago. Never caring where he was, who he hung out with, what trouble he got into, rather or not he was home, if he slept, if he ate, did his schoolwork, passed or failed school, the list seemed to be endless. They never seemed to reach out or try to speak to him outside of short greetings in passing throughout the kitchen on a Friday morning before he would inevitably spend the weekend hiding away. He had never really felt self-conscious of himself as far as his physical traits, he had never particularly been ugly. Not the most attractive either, just average. Until 8th grade that was.  
Once he returned from the musical summer break with the boys, he began to notice the new changes in all the other boys around him. They all grew up a bit. More muscles. More height. More things to notice. He noticed them all changing in all the right ways but he seemed to be changing in all the wrong ones. His brain, his face, his body. It didn’t help that his friends all were becoming even more beautiful by the day while he just became more and more ugly. He tried to ignore it but the more he saw, the more he felt worse. Then kids started to bully him behind his friends back. The names he heard started to weigh heavily on his conscience. Co-dependent. Hideous. Chubby. A truly painful sight to see. He just wanted it to stop. This was something that the boys would want him to talk to them about. He knew if he did, that they could probably help him. He had never been one to openly talk about his problems and he wasn’t going to start now. 

1994, HOLLYWOOD

Junior year was just around the corner for Sunset Curve, a few days away they would fall back into the routine of waking up at 6 am and lazily getting schoolwork done to have extra rehearsal time on the weekdays. Each boy had been working out a bit more, trying to blend nicely into the rest of their junior class. Luke found it fun, Alex thought it was stupid, Reggie liked to flirt with girls who also came through the gym, and to Bobby, it was his personal heaven and hell. Heaven, because it gave him a reason to burn more calories and lose weight without drawing any unnecessary attention to himself. Yet it was the fiery hell that caused him to feel sharp pains in his side and make him feel so anxious in public, refusing to take his shirt off or wear short sleeves. The sweat and extra body heat leaving him constantly feeling on the verge of passing out in the 96-degree weather. He started to lose interest in eating, the thought of food making his stomach churn. Every time he saw even the slightest bit of it, all he could do was hyper analyze its contents, how much added calories, and in turn, how much fat he was adding to his body. Trying to eat food or even the thought of eating it was usually enough to make him puke up whatever the last thing he managed to keep down was.  
The first day of school came way quicker than any of the boys originally anticipated. They had decided to do a band sleepover the night before because realistically none of them were emotionally prepared for what was on its way, and they all knew it. They had all cuddled up together on the couch, courtesy of Luke, falling asleep whispering over the comforting background noise that Star Wars had brought them. When the sun came up and the alarm clocked blared out into the silence, each boy groaned rolling over. Alex, being the responsible teenager of the bunch, dragged them all out of their makeshift bed and into their school clothes before shuffling them out the door. They all hopped into Bobby's van, allowing Alex to drive with Luke on the passenger side so that the other two could get some extra rest in the back section. Bobby was knocked out against Reggie, immediately curling into the lean boy’s side like a pair of arms wrapped around him. Alex looked up into the rearview, smiling at the sight of two of his friends looking so at peace in each other's presence. Luke left out a gentle laugh once he noticed what he had been staring at, putting Alex’s attention back on the road a moment after. They soon pulled into the school's parking lot, pausing for a moment before deciding to let Reggie be the one to suffer the wrath of waking up the rhythm guitarist. Alex and Luke let themselves out of the car, unlocking the door that the other two would inevitably climb out of. After about five minutes of waiting for some type of movement from the van, Luke decided to peek inside from the front window to get a better, less disturbing look at what was going on. At that exact moment, Reggie decided to caress the younger boy's face and whisper in his ear about waking up to go to class. Luke gasped out loud, and thanks to the windows being cracked, alerted the now both awake pair of his spying. Reggie shot Luke a dirty disappointed look before sighing, helping himself and Bobby out of the van. None of them talked about what Luke had seen, all rather choosing to ignore it instead. Once they entered the building they all parted ways, headed off to their respective classes, promising to see each other later in music.  
Getting through the day when exerting so much extra energy walking around and socializing was much harder on no fuel than Bobby had planned for. However, he knew that it was for the best possible outcome for his body, and that carried him. It carried him, kicking and screaming, through the first semester. Eating only when he couldn’t avoid it, working out with the boys, which was admittedly less than often than before-but the lack of food from his water diet made it well worth his money. He noticed himself becoming more lethargic and more depressed. He was confused. He had developed chronic eye bags despite almost always sleeping now. He lost so much weight, but he was still so fat. He tried so hard but yet, he still wasn’t anywhere close to being even the slightest bit good enough for Reggie. 

2020, HOLLYWOOD

“We need to talk about this eventually.”  
The three awake boys avoided each other's eye contact, opting to instead center their attention on the stirring being on what Luke had deemed to be ‘his’ couch. A minute passed and the stirring ceased, the boy settling back onto the mattress, leaning into the hand that rested on his face. The trio all let out their held breath, allowing for their muscles to relax. Deciding that he would be okay for a little longer, they poofed up into the now crowded loft, faces scrunching up at the sight of the clutter.  
“We also need to clean this mess up.”  
With that they each grabbed onto their respective instruments, Reggie making sure to hold onto Bobbys as well, poofing back down into the spot that they used to rehearse in. Alex gave a firm, reassuring look at his boys. Nobody was going to tell them where they could and couldn’t be. This was their home. They had nowhere else to go. They had spent their entire living life getting pushed around and controlled by those around them, but not anymore. Not in their afterlife.  
“Guys...can we talk about this now?” Reggie pleaded, his eyes traveling between his friends. “Somethings, not right. I can feel it. It hasn’t been right for a long time now but I don’t think we can ignore it anymore. Please.” Luke tensed, handling emotions was not his forte, especially the darker ones like this. Alex dropped his shoulders from his ears, giving into the puppy eyes he was being given, “Let’s sit.” Leggings crossing beneath them, they all sat in a circle.  
“Maybe he’s just sick?”  
“I think it had something to do with the big dark room we fell out of.”  
“No.”  
“No?”  
“No. This was something that started before we died. You guys remember the weekend before we were supposed to play the Orpheum?” Nodding intently, they urged for him to continue. 

REGGIE’S POV

I let out a shaky breath. Admitting something was wrong out loud would only bring it to life. I didn’t want to be the one to put it out there into the air. Not only was I terrified of the situation, but I was terrified of their reactions. I was terrified of his reaction. What if I made him angry? No. No this had gone on long enough. Keeping even such a suspicion to myself was driving me insane. I was horrible at keeping secrets. Completely unsure of how to begin this conversation with my two closest friends, I let out an awkward laugh.  
“Well, you see...

1995, HOLLYWOOD

With the Orpheum on the way, we had been practicing more than ever before. Long rehearsals all day, every day- only stopping a few times to grab a bite to eat throughout the day. Luke was hyped up on adrenaline, jumping up and down with endless energy. He looked so excited but unreasonably stressed. We all wanted to play there, it was our dream. Luke was a perfectionist when it came to his music, to the point he would stress out about the slightest thing going wrong and get angry. It was very different from his happy-go-lucky golden retriever personality but somethings just can’t be helped. It was beginning to stress each of us out though. Alex’s anxiety constantly fluctuates based on how long Luke did or didn’t complain about something not being flawless on each attempt. I was just thankful he hadn’t started yelling or I would have given up. My parents always yelling and fighting made me fearful of such things. They served as reminders of when my dad wouldn’t put down the whiskey bottle, or when he would chuck it in my or my mother’s direction. She would start yelling back in retaliation, threatening a divorce that never seemed to come. I don’t know if I should be grateful for her stubbornness or fearful of that as well.  
We had been practicing since about 10 AM, it now being 4 PM, only stopping once to grab a bite from the rustic fridge that was set in the corner. Alex, Luke, and I immediately dug into the small Tupperware containers on the top shelf, shoveling the cold food down our throats, hungry from the long day of work. After a minute or two passed of the three of us practically swallowing more than we could chew, I noticed the fourth pea in our pod hadn’t yet joined us. I nudged the boys next to me with my elbow, gesturing over to our rhythm guitarist who was still quietly sat, strumming out parts of the last song we had rehearsed. I had taken notice of his odd habits that had been seemingly getting worse over the past few weeks. He was eating less, sleeping longer, stressing more, and practicing harder than he ever had. Although the sudden interest in doing his best and dedication to the band was lovely because I got to see him more, it wasn’t like him. I raised my eyebrows to the other two, fighting laughter at and the food dripping out of Luke’s closed mouth. I had their attention and I had a plan. Gentle confrontation time.  
“Hey Bobert” he hummed in response, “Why don’t you come over here and grab a bite? Alex made dinner this time, so I promise it is edible. Kinda good too, good job Alex.”  
“Uh, no thanks.” I frowned at the boys.  
“Common man, I know I’ve been a little crazy today about practicing but ya need to take a break. Let’s go. Dinner time.” Luke said, swerving his way over to Bobby, spinning around. Bobby shifted in his seat, looking mildly uncomfortable at the advancement.  
“Nah, I’m really not hungry. Just wanna try to get this pattern down pat for this weekend.”  
I looked at Alex, lifting a brow. Signaling with my eyes for us to join Luke in Bobby’s personal space. I didn’t want to make him feel overcrowded but it was hard to tell what he was thinking across the room. We cautiously approached them, bringing only one of the bowls and a fork over with us, keeping it out of his front view. He had barely touched his food the past few days, only eating once or twice before providing us with some excuse to step outside or to the restroom after. Now, he wouldn’t even put on a show for us. He instead just flat out refused, coming up with excuse after excuse as to why he couldn’t come and eat just a bite once today. Maybe he had an upset stomach that he was feigning to not have to not jeopardize their gig. No, it wasn’t, he knew it wasn't. I plopped down next to him, shifting his guitar to his side instead of his lap.  
“Common love, you haven’t eaten today. You’ve been working so hard. And I’m proud of you. But taking a break, and eating something, is more important. If you want, we can go run to the store and get you something else.”  
Bobby shook his head, “Nah, can you get me some water though? I don’t feel like getting up haha”. I shot Luke a puppy dog look, “Luke? Please.” He rolled his eyes, disappearing back over to the fridge, Alex trailing not far behind him.  
“Robert.”  
“Reginald.”  
“Please,” I begged, folding my hands together, “For me?”  
“Reg-”  
“No babe. Don’t think I haven’t noticed your change in appetite or your sleep schedule. We practically live together now, you can’t hide these things from me. Please, I’m worried about you.” He whined, setting his guitar on the table in front of us, wedging his face into the crook of my neck. I felt his feeble arms wrap around my waist as I reached up to rub comforting circles on the small of his back. “F-fine.” He gave in, mumbling at a volume almost un-hearable. I smiled down at him, ‘Victory!’ I thought. Ironically, this was at the same time that Luke skipped back into the room, chucking a bottle of store-brand water at us, Alex still on his tail. He missed both of us, the bottle landing on the cushion next to Bobby. He whined again, tightening his grip and trying to bury his head even further into me. I chuckled, removing my hand from his back, placing it on a plastic Tupperware container that I had set down beside me. I pulled him into my lap, forcing him to release me, popping the lid off the bowl. He leaned back into my chest, “I’m tired.”  
“I know baby, but it’s food time. Food first, sleep later. Okay?”  
He closed his eyes, tilting his head to rest on my shoulder. After a moment he sighed, grabbing the bowl from my hand, staring at the food in front of him. He shifted his gaze over to me, “Fork?” I felt someone tap my shoulder. It was Alex handing me the fork that I suppose he grabbed while he was getting the water with Luke. I took the plastic cutlery from him, placing it into Bobby’s right hand on my opposing side. He hesitantly squeezed it, stabbing the fork into the mushy noodle mess, holding it there for another minute, “Do I have to? I promise I’m okay, I just don’t feel great. That’s all. School’s been stressing me out, more than normal lately, nothing else.” He gave me a pleading look. I direly wanted to kiss that look right off his face.  
“I’m sorry you don’t feel well love, and that school’s been kicking your ass. We can work on that together later. But right now? Right now, you haven’t eaten anything so we need to fix that. Here, how much you just eat some of it, you don’t have to eat all of it, but I’d sure like you to try.”  
Nothing.  
“Please,” I tried again, “For me?” That trick always worked. Neither of us could ever truly refuse the other. No boundaries were ever pushed and no secrets were even kept. Until now. He forced the noodle-covered fork into his mouth, gagging at the sudden intrusion. He slowly chewed the already mushy substance, carefully swallowing. Chew. Swallow. Repeat. After a couple of bites, he groaned, clutching his stomach. Shoving the Tupperware container onto the table that was now next to us rather than in front, running off to the bathroom. He slammed the door behind him. The next thing I heard was a gut-wrenching cry and the sound of his stomach contents hitting the toilet bowl. I jumped up rushing to the bathroom. I tried to open the door but he had locked it. Banging on the door I cried, “Bobs!” I felt a hand caress my back and another landing on my shoulder.  
“Let’s...give him some space Reg. He’ll come out when he’s ready.”  
“Maybe he just really doesn’t feel well. Do you think his grandparents know?”  
“Of course they don’t. Poor guy is emotionally constipated unless it’s directly related to Reggie, even then. Questionable.” Alex unapologetically snarked back, his comment laced with hints of concern. The three shuffled back over to the couch, silently cleaning up what was leftover from the events that had just transpired 5 minutes prior. Prying my eyes off of the door was difficult. I didn’t know what was going on inside of his head, and so far he hadn’t offered any insight to any of us. Not even myself. It stung a bit honestly. We normally told each other everything. Or well, I thought we had. 

2020, HOLLYWOOD

“I-I think Bobby needs help. I think he’s needed help, for a long time. I think we just didn’t realize it soon enough.”  
“Do you think, do you think it’s some kind of um,” Luke swallowed, “some kind of eating disorder?”  
“You know what those are?” Alex let out a loud whisper, surprised by Luke’s unseen knowledge. I went to respond, to try to defuse the situation. But I stopped myself, the reality of the situation hitting me like a truck. I choked down a sob, my head falling in between my knees. Comforting hands made their way to my back and shoulders, arms wrapping around me. I felt a wetness breach my shoulder and my then my lap. The lonely feeling of fear and anxiety easing slightly as the three of us cried with each other, holding on desperately to the past reality when everything had been just fine. The four of us jamming out to Bowie, Rockin on like Queen. I felt my heart shatter at even just the thought of my loved one suffering so much just from his mind. I pleaded to whatever God there was above, or around us, that an eating disorder wasn’t the case. That there was some simple, non-painful explanation for the changes, for the new behavior. I silently prayed for nothing lethal, but nothing this all happiness consuming. Remembering that we were already dead, and the lethality of any disease or destruction would have no effect on us I gasped.  
“Wait you guys, we’re dead.”  
“Yeah, and?”  
“So what, what does that mean for us? What can we do, what can we not do?”  
“Oo, we should find out!” Luke happily exclaimed, beginning to ignore the latest realization. “I hope we can eat, the last thing I hate was that bad street dog that knocked us here in the first place. I could really go for some pizza right now!” Pizza sounded nice but nothing seems appetizing right now.  
“I think the first thing we should do is go check out the house. Find out where that Julie girl went to.” And we did. With one last glance at Bobby, we stood and began to walk in the direction that the two living people disappeared off to. Following the path, we were eventually led to a tall door, nodding at each other, shoving Alex in first through the door. I somehow managed to trip in last behind them, shrugging and looking around. It looked so similar, but yet the differences almost fooled me. People were talking, colors on the wall, framed photos hanging from every wall. I almost felt guilty looking at the family-orientated living space. This was nothing how it had been when we were alive. The kitchen had a life to it, people were using it, living in it. It didn’t feel like a place for awkward short greetings in passing, or a place to quickly walk past and up the stairs. It felt like a place to sit down and spend time with those closest to you. Shaking myself out of my head, I noticed Julie sitting at the table. Surrounded by two unknown adults and her yet-to-be-named younger brother. Another unfamiliar female voice piped up, “Well I like the sound of that. Moving from here is only going to help you move on. You’ve got to rip that bandaid off and get the pain over with.” Once the guys noticed her sitting under the source of the noise, we began to step in their direction.  
“Gah!!” Julie yelled, mouth splitting open for what felt like the millionth time that night. We all froze, remembering that despite no one else being able to see or hear us, they could still see and hear her. Everyone looked at her with concern and Luke decided to continue on his path, leaning in her direction from behind the adult male sitting next to her. She pulled herself together rather quickly before giving a fake laugh. “That’s me, ripping off the bandaid, gah…” she trailed off. Her little brother pointed at her, chuckling before focusing his attention back on his dinner. The same woman chimed back in, grabbing onto Julie's chin like a grandma. “Aw, there’s my brave girl!” Luke then gave up waiting, bopping into Julie's line of direct eyesight, Alex again, right behind him.  
“Hey Julie, I really like what you guys have done with the place!”  
“You shouldn’t be here.” She seethed out between her teeth. The woman in athletic clothes let out a small gasp at Julie’s outburst.  
“Oh, I’m just here to help Mija,” She said softly, rubbing Julie’s upper back. Julie gave the three of us a panicked look. Alex leaned over quickly. “Uh, I think that’s our cue to leave.” “Uh I mean, you should be at pilates! Thanks for bringing us food.” She said to the woman, hugging her waist before shooting us a death glare, nostrils flared and eyes angry. “We should go first,” I said, ushering the boys out the door as fast as I possibly could. We ran as fast as we could back to the studio, pleased to see that not only had she not followed us, but Bobbs was also still fast asleep on the couch. Upon arriving back inside of the garage, Luke went over and picked up his acoustic guitar before him and Alex plopped down off to the side of the couch. Luke began to play a familiar riff softly, Alex joining in humming the melody. I sat down on the couch, leg folded inward, trying not to disturb the angel laid out beside me. I ran my fingers through his tousled hair and softly began to sing the chorus of the song the boys had prompted for me.  
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine  
You make me happy when skies are gray  
You'll never know dear, how much I love you  
Please don't take my sunshine away”  
I smiled, letting my hand pause in its movement. This boy was my sunshine. Always had been, always will be. He never once gave up on me, not even through my darkest days. He gave me a place to stay when my home life became too much. He gave me a smile when I myself could not produce one. And he gave me love when I thought it had been impossible to ever feel it again in such a way that made me willing to do anything for him. He cleared my skies for me when they got too gray, and I needed to do the same for him.  
We were sitting in silence again when I felt movement under my hand.  
“R-Reg?” He mumbled out, still in the haze of sleep, “W-what happened? Where- where are we now?” He incoherently slurred out the rest of the question, letting his head roll to the other side. I did my best not to coo at him, not wanting to make him feel embarrassed or uncomfortable after all of the day's events that had transpired. I opted out of telling him about Julie wanting us gone or the fact that she could appear at any point to banish us. I instead placed my other hand on the other side of his head, rubbing gently at his scalp. Once he shifted around to readjust to the position of my hand I left out a quiet laugh.  
“Well hello there, sleepy-head. How ya feeling? Any better?”  
“Mhmm” He hummed out, closing his eyes again.  
“Oh no no sweetie. You’ve been sleeping for a few hours now, you need to stay awake for a little bit before we can go back to sleep.” Groaning he reluctantly reopened his eyes, immediately rolling them after noticing Luke and Alex sitting beside him with wide shit-eating grins on their faces. “Hey sleeping beauty, how was the slumber?” Luke teased, Alex thumping him on the forehead. Before he had the chance to retaliate and start a mini-war, I held my arms out, flicking both of them on the nearest body part I could reach. Bobby, decidedly ignoring them, slowly sat up, leaning against the arm of the couch, staring at the sleeves of my sweater he was wearing. I took a chance to look at him. His face pale, his brown eyes unfocused, and the sweater that used to moderately fit both of us consumed him. It was as if we had stuffed him in one of our parent’s shirts, expecting it to fit when most of them wore an XL. I had seen the terrifying figure he had become earlier when I helped him undress to get into the bath. But he didn’t want me to see so I tried to avoid staring or looking below his collarbone for his sake. Tuning back into the present, I grabbed his hands that had been suffocated by the sleeves of the sweater. He looked at our joined hands and then up at me. Staring intently at my lips he smiled. “Hi there.”  
“Hey.” I smiled, cupping his face and leaning forward a bit. He leaned forward, meeting me in the middle. Kissing Robert Wilson was a surreal experience. His was the softest lips I’d ever come into contact with, the most gentle hands to be held by, and the most submissive personality despite his tough exterior. I guided the kiss, keeping it extremely PG because of our audience and the terrible timing. Not wanting anything to go too far, I pull away slightly, our eyes connecting.  
“I love you, Bobby,” I said, giving him another gentle loving, but quicker kiss. His entire face lit up even brighter than ever before.  
“I love you too, Reggie.”

NO-ONES POV

Alex seemed to have slipped into some gleeful mindset because he was smiling as though he had just watched a romantic movie with a cheesily happy ending to it. Luke, on the other hand, looked as he always did anytime anyone displayed any type of affection, displaced. Luke didn’t know how to handle emotions well, his nor anyone else's. They were easier when they were positive ones but once it hit the romantic or tragic categories, he was out. He couldn’t handle tears of any kind, so when one rolled down Bobby’s cheek as he stared lovingly at Reggie, he stood up, setting his guitar back down on its stand, waddling back over to the other three boys. Not wanting to break up the moment, but not wanting to have to witness it continue to go on, he faked a cough. “So do you guys wanna jam out and play? I mean common, we got nothing better to do. Please,” He begged the trio, giving them his best puppy dog eyes. With a laugh, the boys agreed. Each one of them felt as though they could benefit from focusing their energy on their instrument, instead of the growing pit of dread filling in where their organs used to be. Something still wasn’t right, but for now, they were going to have fun. They started playing a song that they were supposed to have played at the Orpheum, pouring their heart and souls into it. Jumping around playing the melody, they all smiled. Nothing had to change. They could still all do this, together, playing until their hearts were content. Or so they thought.  
Julie barged into the garage, unknown to the boys at first. When they didn’t stop upon her entrance, she continued her path, stomping down in front of them.  
“Guys! Guys stop!” She yelled, catching Luke’s attention. He turned around, never silencing the noise. “Enough! Stop! Cut it out!” she screamed, catching the other 3 boys’ eyes. Fading out, Reggie threw his bass over his shoulder watching as Alex stopped drumming and Bobby and Luke quietly finished their phrases. Ignore the dumb smiles they gave her, she glared, crossing her arms.  
“The whole neighborhood could hear you! I thought I told you to leave.”  
“Wait,” Luke started, “P-people can hear us play?” Alex stood up behind his drum set, all jaws dropped to the floor in astonishment.  
“Yes! And so did my dad, and my brother.” She snapped in a hushed whisper. The boys look excitedly at each other, placing their instruments down. Alex raised his arms in confusion, “W-w-w-wait, so only you can see us, but everyone can hear us?” Luke started jumping up and down on his toes, nodding with his entire body. “What kind of ghosts are we?”  
“Who cares man! People can hear us play!” Luke exclaimed, giving forearm bumps to his band-mates. Julie crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. As she went to speak, she was cut off by Bobby chuckling and Reggie’s excitement.  
“We might be dead, but our music isn’t.”  
Immediately after he finished speaking, the doors to the studio creaked open. The older man from the kitchen peeking his head in looking around. Seeing nobody but Julie inside, he stepped in.  
“Dad!”  
“Hey, just making sure you’re okay.”  
“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. Just had to turn off the CD player.” Her father looked in surprise at the newly placed musical instruments that surrounded the main floor.  
“Wait, is this the junk that was in the loft?” Bobby’s face narrowed into a hateful glare.  
“Excuse me?”  
“Junk?” Luke said a mix of hurt and anger wrote all over his face. The elder man operated unknowingly around the boys as they all adjusted themselves to keep every available eye on him. He plucked on a few of Reggie's bass strings and banged on Alex’s drums. “Some of this stuffs in pretty good shape. Hey, maybe we could make a couple of bucks.” He said, running his fingers around the symbols. Alex’s eyes widened in disbelief.  
“What? Yo, stop touching my drums. Tell him to stop touching my drums!” Alex was becoming angrier by the minute, preferring the boys to not touch his set either. Their slimy unwashed hands grazing all over his typically polished baby. Knowing his friends, they would also somehow always find a way to accidentally break the fragile kit, and this stranger was no different. Luke, catching up on Alex’s anger, pointed sharply at him, looking dead in the eye at Julie. She shrugged, the man giving up and walking away, letting his hands get a feel of everything else. Alex tried scrubbing with his sleeve, the dirty grease off of his now slimy possession.  
“I liked that song you had on.” All anger forgotten, Luke and Reggie stepped in on both sides of the man.  
“Sweet! We’re Sunset Curve.”  
“Tell your friends.”  
“It’s just an old CD I found,” Julie explained.  
“Still, it’s nice that you’re listening to music again. Out here, you can play whatever you want, whenever you want.” Her father offered. It made him smile to see his daughter slowly beginning to heal from the recent tragedy they had faced. The boys, who had no clue what he meant interpreted it as an invitation to practice all day every day with no interruptions. They forgot that only Julie could see them, bubbling over with excitement. “Awe, that’s nice.”  
“Stop it, you shouldn’t be here. Stay out of this.” Julie gritted out of her teeth, temporarily forgetting that her father could still hear her. He looked slightly offended but took the change in attitude with hardly more than a grain of salt. “I-I’m sorry honey. I didn’t-”. She cut him off, realizing her mistake. “Oh no no no not you, I mean, I-I uh you know” she stopped, dropping her arms and her head, walking over to him, grabbing his hand. She guided him back towards the door, “Give me a minute.”  
“Hey, hey, hey, We’re gonna figure out this music program thing.”  
“Thanks, Dad.” She said, the smile dropping as she gave a pointed ‘get out’ motion with her hand to him. He smiled at her and walked back out towards the house. Behind him, the boys waved, not feeling as pissed by his previous ‘junk’ comment and Julie slammed the door, angrily turning around glaring at the quartet who were now lined up.  
“He likes our song,” Luke said with a drunken-looking smile across his face.  
“Aw, yeah” Alex sarcastically said, “He doesn’t count. He’s a dad.”  
“Why can’t you guys just be normal ghosts? Hang out in an old mansion! I heard Pasadenas nice!.” Julie snarled before stomping her way out and back to her house.  
“I think she’s warming up to us.”  
“Yeah! I’ve always wanted to go to Pasadena!”  
“Hmm, no. Common, we need to try to change her mind. This was our place first. Plus, we’re dead. What’s she gonna do? Kill us?”  
Luke poofed on the path about a foot away from where Julie currently was walking. “Gah!” He smiled at her. “Stop doing that! I’m serious.” The smile dropped from his lips. He put his hands up in caution, approaching her slowly. “I’m sorry.” The surprised look on her face didn’t last for long. “What do you want.” She said in a sore and demanding tone. It contrasted with Luke’s bubbly golden retriever attitude. Her being the pessimistic darkness, while he, the optimist ball of sunshine. He gave her another dumb smile, glancing over towards the studio where his boys had their eyes discreetly looking through the windows at the top of the doors.  
“Look, I know this is all completely insane. But you do know how rad this is. Peop-actual people can hear us play!” Passion seeping throughout his tone.  
“Yeah, it’s just that I’ve had a really, really, awful day. I gotta go.” She unfolded her arms, passing by Luke, headed to the next gate.  
“I-I’m sorry you had a bad day,” Luke tried, “But four guys just found out that they had a bad twenty-five years. And then they found out that the one thing, the one thing they lived for in the first place, they can still do. That’s pretty rad.” She sighed,  
“You’re right. It’s just-”  
“Your bad day” She nodded “Yeah, I know. Look, I’m sorry we came into your life. But, what I just felt in there, actually made me feel alive again. We all felt alive again. So you can kick us out if you want, but we’re not giving up music. We can play again! That’s a gift no musician would ever turn down! You gotta know this, clearly, your mom is into music.” He noticed the pain flash through her eyes as she moved her head and looked at her feet. He didn’t mean to hurt her feelings but he couldn’t just give up now, not when they were so close and found the closest thing to being able to feel alive since their deaths.  
“Was. She passed away.”  
“I am, so sorry,” he breathed out. One of the things Luke was the worst with in the world, was negative emotions and how to talk about them. Luke spoke through touch, constantly koalaing the boys if they ever needed a hug or any sort of comfort. He didn’t know how to form overly emotional sentences, or how to verbally provide reassurance to someone without putting his thoughts into lyrics. He desperately wished now that he had that skill. He couldn’t touch her. He was a ghost. Even if he theoretically could though, how would she feel? A strange, co-dependent 17-year-old musician, hugging her when she had only just met him.  
Alex, Reggie, and Bobby all appeared on the ground beneath them, leaning up to reach about waist height. “We-we didn’t know.” Alex started, twiddling his fingers anxiously. He massaged one of his rings into his finger, searching for any sort of self-soothing. He was better at communicating his feelings between the four of them, but that usually only came when they were alone. His anxiety controlled how he handled many situations, and this one was no exception. They were walking on cracking ground. One wrong step and the entire bridge to happily staying in Bobby’s old garage would fall, sending them right into the fiery pit below that was the unknown. He held his breath.  
“It’s alright.” Alex sighed in relief, flicking his ring once more before stopping, letting his armrest at his side. Reggie gave a sad smile, gently squeezing Bobby’s hand that was hidden from Julie’s range of sight. They passed a slightly less, but still worried look to Luke, who simply shrugged when Julie focused her attention on the three boys below her. “You guys haven’t...seen her anywhere, have you from wherever you’re from?” Alex looked at the other two with a hopeful look in his eye. They both shook their heads, not even knowing who her mother could be. They never associated with anyone other than themselves, in life, void, or death. “No. I mean no, you’re kind of the first person we’ve seen.” Julie nodded, visibly upset. Reggie, who had momentarily quit paying attention to the obvious mood of the situation chimed in.  
“Yeah, but she’s not dead so that doesn’t really answer her question.”  
“Yeah. I think she knows what we mean.”  
Bobby, looking more unsettled as the seconds passed, squeezed back on Reggie’s hand.  
“I uh, I’m sorry for your loss.”  
“Me too, If you uh, ever wanna talk, we’re here.” She looked down at the ground.  
“Thanks, Sorry I got mad. You guys are, kinda good.” Luke looked up with joy in his eyes. The emotionally draining seriousness was gone, and his seriousness just kicked in. “Kinda? You-you know that’s like twenty-five years of rust just dusted off.” The boys smiled at him. “Yeah. Do you play the piano too?” Reggie asked, trying to keep the short-tempered boy distracted before Julie had the chance to throw any more half insults at him to avoid causing anymore pouting.  
“No, no I don’t play,” She lied, “That was my mom’s stuff in there.”  
“Well, she’s an amazing songwriter,” Luke said, not realizing he had just exposed his slight snooping he had while he and Alex had hung back from the couch earlier that day.  
“She was. Wait, how would you know?” Luke gave her a sheepish, smiley shrug, trying not to make her angry again. He shook, not wanting to be the reason they ultimately got kicked out. “There-there’s a song on the piano. If it’s hers-” he paused, “Your mom was really talented.” He finished empathetically. He couldn’t believe it, another amazing musician lost. Taken away from the world. He wanted badly to hear the fallen woman sing, to be able to connect personally with her music. They all stood in silence for a few moments longer than he would have preferred. Here they were again, back onto the negative emotions. Julie nodded her head and started to leave. He frowned, looking down at the boys, the anxiety practically screaming out of his head.  
She stopped.  
Julie turned around, taking a careful look at each one of the guys around her. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about them but something felt different. Like throwing them out was a bad idea. She had a feeling, but she just couldn’t quite place it. She hesitated for another moment, sighing deeply. ‘I better not regret this,’ she thought.  
“I guess, if you need a place to stay, you can stay in there.” She gestured to the stature beside them. They all smiled, the looks of defeat and hopelessness vanishing away.  
“There’s a bathroom in the back and a couch that turns into a bed if you still use any of that stuff.” Reggie went on to comment that they knew these things already because originally, it had been their space. Not hers., but decided against it in fear of the fragility that the situation had, and the power she somehow held over them. He laughed to himself, deciding to instead make a joke that only himself and the boys would get.  
“Dibs on the shower. I really like showers,” he smirked, squeezing Bobby lightly on the ass, “And sometimes the occasional bath.” Alex choked on his own saliva, Bobby’s face turning beet red. Luke smirked and laughed along with Reggie at the state of his best friends, only feeling the slightest bit embarrassed for the other bottom. Julie gave them all a very confused look, not understanding the joke or comment even a little bit.  
“This...this is just too weird… Yeah,” She said, running her hands in circles towards them. Unsure if she meant them existing as ghosts, or Reggie’s not-so-subtle joke about loving showering, the boys all blushed. She shook her head lightly and finished her walk back up to the house, disappearing behind the large wooden door that sat on the porch. Once she was inside, Luke deemed it celebration time, cheering aloud and giggling down at the boys. He leaned down and rubbed on Alex’s chest from behind him as Reggie gave Bobby a tight hug. For the second time since they had come back as ghosts, things felt okay again. They were able to play and stay together in their home. Their real home.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! I know it was a tad long for a first try. Originally, each section was going to be either its own chapter, or its own work but I felt as though that would too much butter to spread when it was all scooped at once. Also, I love constructive criticism so feel free to drop that in the comments if you do so choose. I would also be stoked if you wanted to drop ideas or suggestions of what you want to read down there as well. I'll try to keep up with this consistently. I'd really like it to be a series, but we'll just have to see. I'm a student, a caregiver, and I also have a job so life can be a little hectic sometimes as we all know. I hope you have a great day/evening/night and I will try to update soon!


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